Day upbeat about defending US PGA title

CONFIDENCE BOOST: Jason Day, of Australia, watches a tee shot at the Canadian Open golf tournament in Oakville, Ontario.Nathan Denette

GOLF: A bogey-free final round of 67 in the Canadian Open has world No.1 Jason Day feeling better about his chances of defending his PGA Championship title.

The Queenslander finished his Canadian Open title defence in a tie for 14th, five shots behind the winner, Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela, but felt he had turned a corner in his final two rounds.

“I played good today. Hit a lot of good-quality shots, so I felt much better,” Day said.

“Even though I didn’t hit a lot of fairways this week, I actually hit it solid off the face. Hit a lot of good shots, kind of exactly what I wanted to do.

“That has given me, especially over the last two days, a lot of confidence.”

Statistically, Day has been the best putter on the tour this season, but he admits he has work to do before Thursday’s opening round of the PGA at Baltusrol, New Jersey.

“I didn’t putt well this week. I was just struggling with the lines,” he said.

“I think it was a combination of last week (the British Open) rolling into this week where you’ve got 9.5 on the Stimp (green speed measure) and you’re used to seeing one kind of line and then you come here and it’s anywhere between 12 and 13 and the line changes.”

Having broken through for his maiden major in last year’s PGA Championship, finishing a remarkable 20-under par, Day is desperate to secure a second.